How to become a brilliant student at college?

College is an exciting place to be. There’d be hundreds of interesting people to meet, thousands of challenges to comprehend, and, well, countless nights of alcoholic concoctions to ingest. But, somewhere amidst this heady mix, there’s even an education to be had.

The problem here is that with so many external and social factors and the relentless pressure of studying, all of them can make your college life a bit overwhelming, and this can sometimes lead to failure.

So, what according to you can be done to stay on top of all things and ensure success for the future? Well, the fact is each student is different, and what might work for someone else might not work for the other. But there are some of the helpful tips that are applicable enough to every student in general and can make the difference to a successful education.

Write, don’t type

Students usually find it tempting to take notes on the laptop; after all, it’s a quick method and makes it easier for you to type. You get more information to look through later on if you simply type. But according to a study, students who write out their own notes actually tend to learn more.

This is because writing and typing both of them require different cognitive processes. When you write the notes by hand, the slower and cumbersome nature of writing makes you more inclined towards actual listening and comprehending what is being told. So what you write simply comes out to be a summary of what your brain understood. Typing, on the other hand, might just be a simple way of mindless repeating activity.

Surround yourself with the right people

For adhering towards the right path of education, you need to make sure that the environment you live in allows you to study without distractions when you need to.

Ideally, students should share a room or house with the person who is even more bookish than you. According to a recent study, studious habits of serious scholars have a more positive impact on the grades of their less academic inclined mates.

Go for the phones’ ‘Off’ button

Procrastination among students has become a huge problem these days. When you finally make up your mind for studying, suddenly, you get embroiled in three different WhatsApp conversations and an episode of Game of Thrones. And this all comes even before the end of the first paragraph.

It’s understandable enough because most people get distracted from their phones while working. But being able to focus on things despite such distractions is an important skill to master. You’ll struggle to get anything done unless you avoid such distractions. So start by removing the most immediate distracters, including your phone, and make sure your mind remains on one thing that is your work. You’ll be far more productive if you’re free of distractions.

Eat well

It has been proven countless times that our brain functions well if we eat properly. Apart from being expensive, living off takeaways and half-eaten MCDs will impair your cognitive ability, and wouldn’t do much for your physical health either.

Make sure that your diet contains a healthy balance, including all those green vegetables which are good for memory retention, and that you eat them three times a day.

Sleep well

The importance of good sleep cannot be overstated, especially when you try to juggle several assignment deadlines or upcoming tests. If you try working up a whole night to get an essay finished, then we might suggest that you need to develop your time management and organizational skills.

Though it’s good to blow off some steam once in a while, but spending all nights working on it would inevitably affect your grades, and in the end, it will be your result that suffers.

Stay active

With plenty of sleep and a good diet, you should also try to stay active while studying. This is because staying physically fit creates a sense of positivity and self-worth that you can transfer to your study time. Exercise has always proven to boost your cognition at a neutral level.

For this, you can simply walk to your campus daily, or ride a bicycle instead of taking the bus. You can even join the college’s sports team and take part in other physical activities that will help develop your extracurricular portfolio and essential team-building skills.

Go for a part-time job

Apart from those obvious financial benefits you get from working while you study, being employed also boosts your self-esteem, improves your time management and organizational skills, and makes you responsible in general.

When you don’t have the free time to work as per your scenario, you learn to use your time more wisely, thus making you more productive in the field.

Raise the stakes

If you’ve got a part-time job, resist the temptation of online shopping and instead try putting off some money for your tuition fees. When it’s your own money, you will take everything more seriously and spend carefully.

It might sound crazy, but students who pay their own fees have more at stake if they fail. Isn’t that what student loans are for?

Ask a lot of questions

At most universities and colleges, faculty staff are said to be the leaders in the field of research, with professors and lecturers dedicating their entire professional lives to the study of their chosen subject. Ask them as many questions as you want because most students in the class do not pick the opportunity to question their professor’s mind, and this can be essentially useful to them.

You’ll not only learn more, but you’ll also benefit in other ways too. When you ask questions in class and actively take part in debates, you become much more engaged in the subject matter. This helps you to view things differently and understand them in a completely new manner.

Have a positive mindset

If you already think about the task being hard and have a negative view regarding this even before it begins, then you tend to move towards failure. For being a good student, you need to adjust your mindset and be positive in nature because everyone out there is capable of doing things that they didn’t think they could.

Failing one exam is not the end of the world, so learn from your mistakes and work hard. Make sure that you don’t fall into the trap of deeming yourself a failure.

Always ask for help

Most of you think that asking for help is somehow equal to admitting to their defeat. But they do not know that asking for help is a sign that you are determined enough to succeed in life. If you are finding it difficult to understand a topic or subject, then you can seek help from your teachers and home tutors.

If you are facing problems with any kinds of assignments and homework in class, then you can seek help from online assignment service providers who hire professional experts to assist their clients with work.

The time you spend at college should be one of the most interesting phases of life, so engage more with people and give your full commitment towards this; the tips listed here can be a good place to start.

Do you have any other tips or tricks to share with us? Let us know in the comment section below…